American nordic skier Simi Hamilton is ringing in the new year by making history. On Tuesday, the 2010 Olympian became the first American male in decades to win a World Cup race鈥攁 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint, held in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, as part of the Tour de Ski stage race.
The last time a win like this happened was 30 years ago by American hero Bill Koch. In a sport historically dominated by europeans, the U.S. men’s nordic program owns only one Olympic medal鈥斺榮 silver in 1976.
Hamilton, 26, a Colorado native, has never finished better than seventh in a World Cup race, . During Tuesday鈥檚 race, though, Hamilton came back from behind, 聽 a mere 0.32 seconds ahead of Canadian Alex Harvey in second. The win is particularly exciting given that the Sochi Winter Games are just weeks away.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think I had it until I was, like, five feet across the line,鈥 Hamilton said, . 鈥淚 just focused on skiing through the finish and sticking to my guns.鈥